Twitter, and Telegram Soar as China's Most Popular Free iOS Apps Since COVID Protest Incidents

China reports Twitter and Telegram as its most popular free iOS apps following its recent COVID controversy.

Recently, protests extended across major cities from Beijing to Chengdu and university campuses over a horrific fire in Urumqi, China, where victims were allegedly prevented from fleeing because of Covid-19 limitations, according to The Guardian.

Following the incident, images and videos of these protests have been making the rounds on social media, specifically on Twitter and Telegram.

Why Are Twitter and Telegram the Trending Apps in China?

South China Morning Post reports that the country's most downloaded apps in recent days amid widespread protests over pandemic restrictions are Twitter and Telegram.

Statistics from Sensor Tower show that ever since videos and images of the Chinese protests began to spread online, Twitter soared to the top eighth position of the most-downloaded free iOS app in China. The app was still ranked much higher than its prior position, which was below 100th, even though it had dropped to the 26th spot by Thursday.

Meanwhile, the messaging app Telegram shot up to the sixth place, possibly due to its support of encrypted chat compared to WeChat, which is heavily burdened with censorship and surveillance.

Notably, two of the most popular social networking sites in China, WeChat and Weibo, have reportedly been taking down any posts related to the protests.

How Is China Using Twitter and Telegram Amidst Nationwide Censorship?

Despite China's great firewall, which subjects its citizens to major censorship and internet restrictions that ban many international websites, users with a Chinese Apple ID can download Twitter and Telegram. However, they are unable to send messages or see the apps' content without utilizing VPN services.

Users with a Chinese Apple ID can now download both applications, but they are unable to send messages or see the apps' content without utilizing VPN services to get through China's Great Firewall, a sophisticated censorship system that bans many international websites.

However, despite skyrocketing as one of the most popular apps, Chinese authorities still strictly prohibit the usage of foreign apps. Police in Beijing and Shanghai have begun stopping people on the street near protest locations to search their smartphones for VPNs or other foreign applications.

Zhengzhou Covid Situation at Apple iPhone Factory

Amidst China's strict COVID protocols, a Foxconn factory's situation in Zhengzhou has been drawing controversy online.

In March, Foxconn's Shenzhen, China, plant first saw emerging COVID-19 cases, causing a temporary suspension in factory production. Due to a COVID-19 outbreak in October, management started implementing strict safety precautions, resulting in a poor production rate as many employees attempted to escape the facility and walked toward their hometowns.

The strict COVID policy in China has made it extremely difficult to run the Zhengzhou factory, which employs more than 200,000 workers in the suburbs of the capital.